Peanut-blancher.



F. F. HEDGES.

PEANUT BLANCHER APPLICATION FILED NOV.2l, 1913.

1,147,397 Patented July 20, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

COLUMBIA PLANDORAPH c0..wAsmNnToN, n. c.

F. F. HEDGES.

PEANUT BLANCHER.

APPLICATION FILED Nov.21. 1913.

1,147,397. Patented July 20,1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

7V- .esscs: l/vva 0/? COLUMBIA PLANOuR APl| co.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

uni i ea FRED r. rinnens, or

urica nnw YORK.

rEAnUr-BLAnoHEn,

' Specification of Letters a Patented July 20,1915.

Application filed November 21, 1913. SerialNo. 802,226.

To all whom it may concern: y 7

Be it known that I, FRED F. HEDGES, of

Utica, in the county of Oneida, infthe State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Peanut-Blanchers, 'of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, isfa full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in peanut blanchers for stripping the husks or hulls from the nut meats. V The primary object is to provide mechanical means for expeditiously removing the husks from peanut meats after they are shelled without mutilating the meats. In other words, 'I have sought to provide simple means whereby the operators may spread the nut meats promiscuously over and upon the surface of a bed or table having a series of perforations therethrough of such construction that the nut meats will 'automati cally seat themselves inlthe perforations endwise, said table having resilient members of soft rubber or equivalent material in which the apertures are reduced in size for stripping the husks from the meats as they are forced therethrough by suitable plungers. Another object isto provide theplungers with resilient tips to prevent mutilation of. the meats while they are being forced,- through the resilient strippers. I I Other objects and uses will be brought out a in the following description.

In thedrawings F'gure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of a machine embodying the various features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical s'ec tional view of the same machine taken on line 2-2, Fig. 1. j

This machine comprises ahorizontally disposed bed plate or table '"l', mounted upon a suitable supporting frame 2 and pro vided with a series of'vertical openings and resilient strippers through which the nut meats after'beingshelled are forced by a corresponding number of plungers 3 projecting from 'the"lower side of a vertically reciprocating head 4.. a The bed or table 1 is preferablycomposed of upper and lower plates and 6 of wood, metal or other rigid material and interposed, stripping v members -7- and -8- of resilient substance such I as soft rubber, the plate 5 being mount-" ed directly upon the top of the frame 2 while the lower plate-6 is secured to ofthe meats. a The plungers 3 are alined with and" the under side of the plate 5' by screws -9 or equivalent fastening means, the stripping plates '-7 and -8 being firmly held in place between the plates 5 and ,6 The upper plate -5 is provided with relatively large conical apertures 10 tapering downwardly and of suflici'ent size to receive peanut meats endwise therein when spread upon'the upper surface of the table by hand or otherwise. The next'adjacent lower plate 7-' is prefer;

ably made of soft rubber or equivalent resi iw ent material and is provided with conical. apertures 11-als0 tapering downwardly and registering with the apertures 10 but-0f somewhat smaller size than the apertures 10 and average nutmeats so thatthe friction produced by the resilient stripping members in forcing the nut meats there:

through will effectively strip the husks from,

the meatsI This stripping of the husk is further facilitated'and assured by the .und'erlyingstripping plate 8 which is also made of soft rubber or equivalent material and provided with a series of cylindrical apertures '12" registering with the aperf tures 10 and 11 and of so-mewhatf smaller size than the nut meats so as toproduce ferl e ri h h r by th p u e 3 in a; manner hereinafter described. The lower plate '.."6- is-also provided with apertures 10- in the upper plate 5 so" as to allow the hush meats to pass freely therethrough without liability of mutilation movable into and out of their respective apertures -10- and are normally held some distance above the upper surface of the plate '5 so as to allow'the nut meats to be 7 spread out by hand over the surfaceof the bed or table by which operation they gravitate into the apertures endwise after which friction withthe surface thereof as they I a series .of apertures+13 -registering with the excess of nut meats are brushed ofi from the surface of the table and the plungers are 1 then causedto descend to forcethe meats whichmay be in the apertures therethrough and through the stripping plates for'remov: ing the husks therefrom;

' The plungers areof sufficient size and length to pass through'the apertures in the upper plate 5 and their lower ends are provided with tips -14 of soft rubber or equivalent material to prevent mutilation of the meats While they are being forced through the strippers, the main bodies of the plungers above the tips being preferably made of wood or other comparatively inexpensive material and secured into the lower side of the head 4L so as to project downwardly some distance therefrom. The opposite ends of the head are guided in ways -'15 on'the inner faces of upright brackets 16 which are secured to and rise from the opposite ends of the upper bed plate 5.. i

The means for reciprocating the head .4.- consists of a shaft l7 journaled in the upper ends of the brackets 16 and provided with a pair of eccentrics 18 which are connected by pitmen 19 to the opposite ends of the head 4. as shown more clearly in Fig. 1, said shaft be,- ing provided with apulley 20 adapted to be connected by a belt to any available source of .power not shown.

By interposing the soft rubber stripping members -7 and 8 between the rigid plates 5 and .6., they are firmly held in place against vertical movement under the action of the plungers in forcing the nut meats therethrough and at the same time are free to yield laterally to permit the passage of the nut meats and to produce, sufiicient friction on the surfaces. thereof to effectively strip the husks therefrom by reason of the fact that the apertures in the stripping members are of considerably less size than the meats,

At each operation of the plungers, the

meats are forced through the stripping.

members and although those last operated upon may be held by friction in the stripping members, the succeeding operation of the plungers upon another series of meats which may have been placed in the openings 10 will force those which have been held by the stripping members. downwardly and outwardly through the clearance openings 13, while the husks which may accumulate in the openings 10 are similarly forced through the stripping members and thence outwardly through said, clearance openings.

In. some instances it. may be desirableto first soften the skins or husks of the peanuts by immersing the latter in warm water or other suitable liquid to permit such skins to be more easily removed by the machine for this purpose the upper. plate .5v may Y be provided with a removable section as 5 restlng loosely 1n the underlying plate and provided witlrthe conical openings -10 thus permitting the plate 5 with the peanuts therein to be immersed in the liquid until skins are softened and then replaced in the machine for removing the loosened skins from the meats in the manner described, it being understood that several of these plate 5- may be provided to carry on the work progressively and ex peditiously.

What'I claim. is:

1. A. nut blancher comprising an apertured body of resilient substance and plungers having resilient tips movable into and out of the apertures to force the nuts therethrough;

2. A nut blancher comprising. a body of resilient substance having an aperture therethrough and a plunger having. a resilient tip movable into and out of the aperture for forcing the nuts therethrough.

3. In a nut-meat blancher, the combination of. a non-resilient member having an aperture therethrough and an underlying resilient member also having an aperture alined with that in the first named member, a plunger for forcing the nut-meats through the aperture iuthe first named member and into the aperture ofthe resilient member, and means for prei enting the movement of the plunger through the aperture in the resilient member.

4. A nut-meat blancher comprising a nonresilient member having a frusto conical aperture therethrough and an underlying resilient member also having an aperture alined with, that in the first named member for permitting the passage of nut meats therethrough and blanching the same, and a frusto-conical plunger movable in the first named aperture ,forforcing the. nut meats therethrough.

In, a-nut-meat blancher, the combination of non-resilient members one above the other .and separate resilient members interposed between the non-resilient members, said members being provided with registering apertures, and means movable only in the aperture of one of the non-resilient members for forcing the. nut meats successively into the apertures of the resilient members and remaining non-resilient member.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day of November, 1913..

JOSEPH J ,'BREWERTON, CHAS. K Cook.

Copies of this patent maybe obtained for five centseaoh, by addressing: the Commissioner of latente,

Washington, D Q. 

